Warning : May contain more than your daily recommended allowance of randomness

Tag Archives: unusual

In America, you’re free to name your baby whatever you want. For the most part, freedom is good; we don’t want tyranny. But some countries’ governments feel it is their duty to protect people from stupidity. A debate on whether that is good or not is beyond the scope of this article.

I started thinking about this because New Zealand just banned a number of baby names, including 18 that have been used in the U.S. (and some are popular). Some of them make sense for other countries, like King, Princess, Duke, Baron, Majesty, etc. Some are to prevent religious confusion or controversy, like Christ and Lucifer. Someone cross-referenced their list with the U.S. Social Security Administration’s database and found that 46 boys in the U.S. are named Christ, and 8 are named Lucifer. I just don’t know why someone would choose to name their child Lucifer. Seems kind of forboding toward evil… (That’s like naming your child “Important Evil Genius“, except even worse.)

Sweden has similar bans, although they extend it to names such as Superman and Metallica. U.S. celebrities are becoming known for giving their children weird names. A few examples:

Having named a child now, part of the process process for us was trying to pick a name that people won’t make fun of too much. Obviously you can’t stop all teasing and bullying, but some of those above are just asking for it. Tabooger? Guess what his childhood nickname will be… And Tu Morrow? Imagine the awkwardness when everyone he/she meets has a short pause upon learning the name, realizing it’s supposed to be funny but it’s not and then you don’t know how to respond to that.

On a related note, you can go to the Social Security website to see how popular your name has been in America the past few decades.

I came across this supposedly real news article, but I don’t have a link to prove its validity. Nonetheless, given the other weird news I’ve come across, I can believe it.

Police were hoping for a good turnout at their “Kicks for Guns” sneaker exchange Friday, but they weren’t expecting to get a surface-to-air missile launcher. An Ocoee man showed up and exchanged the 4-foot-long launcher for size-3 Reebok sneakers for his daughter. Taking advantage of the exchange’s no-questions-asked policy, the man was not identified. He told the Orlando Sentinel that he found the weapon in a shed he tore down last week.

You know the economy is bad when people are trading in the family rocket launcher for a pair of tennis shoes. I blame Obama.

I wish I had more info. I mean, how do you tear down a shed and happen to find a missile launcher? That just doesn’t happen. There has to be more to the story…

We like to feature unusual photos for our weekly caption contest, to make it more interesting and more random. We’ve had some really weird pictures so far, but this may be the most random one yet. I challenge you to come up with a story that comes close to being plausible. Of course, you can also make jokes or funny observations, if you don’t care to try to explain it. Most of all, have fun with it.

(To see our other caption contests, click on the “Say What?” category in the sidebar.)

For a while the “occupy” movement was getting a lot of attention, with people camping out in city parks and such. I figure there are valid points to be made, but some of them are hard to take seriously. For example, the Occupy Denver movement elected a Border Collie to be its leader. The dog’s owner was inspired to do this by a speech from Michael Moore.

That’s all I know about the story, and I’m not sure it’s worth the effort to know more. I don’t know that more details would make it more intelligible…

I just don’t get it. Is that supposed to make some statement? What kind of message are they giving? Are they begging for handouts / treats?

It’s time for another weekly caption contest! This time there’s a guy holding a crazy gun / weapon. Obviously some modifications have been made. So what’s the purpose of this weapon? Why would he made such adjustments? Will the “upgrades” help? What does his friends and family think? What do you think about it?

(To see our other caption contests, click on the “Say What?” category in the sidebar.)

The other day I was at Walmart and I saw something unusual. There was a man running out of the bathroom. I’m not talking about just walking fast — he was literally running. I’ve seen people run into a bathroom, and there are obvious reasons for that (though a dubious strategy, in my opinion). But it seemed odd to see something actually running from the bathroom. I was scared to go in… I mean, it’s scary enough to have to use a public restroom, but in this scenario something could’ve went horribly wrong. What if you walk up on something like this abused toilet? Would you really want to experience that? Sure, to some of you who like gross stuff, it would make for a great story. But keep in mind that seeing that picture is a LOT different from actually walking up to it in person. (And don’t say I never mentioned the smell! That might cause problems before you could escape…)

If this has piqued your curiosity and you want to know “the rest of the story”, then I have to apologize, because I did not find out why this happened. I didn’t want to investigate, and I figure it’s better not to talk to a stranger who is running from a public restroom… I haven’t learned that from experience, but it just seems like good sense. However, I have learned that sometimes it’s better to just not know…

The other day I watched a little bit of the TV show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern“. I don’t usually watch it, but it can be interesting (and quite gross at times) . In the clip I saw, he was in Cambodia, and he showed people who eat tarantulas. And of course he tried it. I don’t think I would try that…

Yummy... NOT!

The story of how this happens is unusual also. A husband and wife team go into the forest to catch tarantulas, then they de-fang them using a stick, a knife, and their hands, and they sell them for 12 cents apiece. Imagine if that was your job! It’s dangerous enough to find and catch poisonous spiders, plus the other dangers in a forest. Then they remove the fangs and poison. What could possibly go wrong? And to get only 12 cents per spider… I realize the economy is on a different scale there, but that still seems quite low for the amount of risk involved.

A woman buys the tarantulas, rinses them off, seasons them with a mixture of powdered instant chicken soup, garlic, salt, pepper, and sugar, then fries them. While cooking, they make whistling noises and popping sounds (like a small explosion). While frying the hair/fur falls off. Supposedly they are quite tasty, with a sweet and nutty taste. The woman sells them in town for 25 cents each, and makes about $25 a day, which is a really good living there.

Reading about it doesn’t do the story justice. You should watch this short clip to experience it a little closer.

To answer my original question: No, I would not eat one. I’m not scared of spiders, but I’d still rather not eat them, especially when they’re potentially poisonous. There’s plenty of other foods I would rather eat.